All Politics is now Global

Brazil will accept payment from Iran in euros and other currencies for planes, cars and machinery to sidestep lingering U.S. sanctions on the oil-rich nation, Trade Minister Armando Monteiro told Reuters on Tuesday.

Monteiro is the first Brazilian official to confirm that Latin America’s biggest economy could accept payment in currencies including the euro from Iran, which is forbidden from using the U.S. financial system under the sanctions.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff could visit Iran this year to bolster exports, he said.

“Everyone is racing after Iran now … The trade potential is very big,” said Monteiro. “We will find ways to settle payments, the type of payment and currency.”

Following a nuclear deal that lifted crippling sanctions last month, Iran has sought to settle debts and sell oil in euros to reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar.

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Although it is not clear whether any attempt to circumvent the U.S. financial system could raise tensions with Washington, Brazil’s leftist government in the past has annoyed the United States by drawing closer to Tehran.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signed a raft of deals with European companies in January, many of them priced in euros.